Union sent packing in U.S. Open Cup

BOYDS, Md. — In a semipro setting in the amateur confines of the Maryland SoccerPlex, the Philadelphia Union about matched the intensity and vigor brought by the smattering of fans Wednesday night.

In front of the sparse crowd of supporters, the Union endured a listless first 75 minutes before eventually bowing out to D.C. United, 3-1, in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The culprit, in equal parts, was a hat trick from Dwayne De Rosario and some shambolic defending from the Union.

It wasn’t until the second half that the Union got its first shot on goal. And while Jack McInerney got his obligatory goal — in the 76th minute, 90 seconds after De Rosario’s second off a feed from Don Anding — it was little consolation in an otherwise poor performance.

“I’m really disappointed in our performance, in particular the way we started that game,” Union manager John Hackworth said. “I think it was unacceptable on a lot of levels. … I give full credit to D.C. tonight, and we knew they were going to bring it. But at the same time, I don’t think we brought our best, certainly not at the start of that game, and we’ve got to know that we’re not that good that we can do that.”

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The late surge by the Union, featuring youngsters like Anding, Leo Fernandes and Antoine Hoppenot in place of ineffective veterans like Michael Farfan and Keon Daniel, wasn’t enough to cancel out three strikes by the veteran De Rosario for a team that had managed a paltry return of six goals in 14 MLS matches this season.

De Rosario’s first salvo came in the 24th minute when he pounced on a loose ball at the top of the box and fired home a shot into the low, right-hand corner, on which Zac MacMath stood no chance.

From then, the contributions by Union defenders to De Rosario’s goals became more pronounced. Amobi Okugo gifted the ball to former Union striker Lio Pajoy on the left wing in the 74th, and Pajoy fed De Rosario, who rounded Jeff Parke’s feeble tackle attempt and a caught-out MacMath.

Though McInerney responded quickly, it only delayed the game’s resolution. A failed passing exchange between MacMath and Parke fell to De Rosario, who fired home from 45 yards with MacMath off his line in the 84th.

“The second goal, it was just a bad, careless touch,” Okugo said. “The third goal, I don’t even know what happened. But whenever you give three goals to a team that isn’t doing well, giving them confidence is tough. We’ve just got to get back to the drawing board.”

Just a week removed from arguably their best performance of the year, a 3-0 win over Columbus in MLS action, the Union generated a fraction of the attacking guile, coupled with a mess of a defensive effort.

The Union’s only first-half shot was a rocket by Daniel that went well over the goal. The Union clawed one back when Anding was introduced, providing some purposeful movement down the left-hand side. It was his lay-off that McInerney slotted home from outside the box, and Anding provided another dangerous cross that Sebastien Le Toux wasted a chance to bury at the back post.